Koal's 1st Birthday Bash



What's with all the singing?!?!





Mmmmmmm!



Looking Back: Surgery #1

One year ago today we arrived at Children’s Mercy around 5AM to see our one week old Koal who was in the NICU awaiting surgery. We were able to hold him and love on him until they took him to surgery that morning at 7 AM. We waited about 4 ½ hours (surrounded by family and friends) as the team worked, and were OVERJOYED to see Dr. O’Brien and have him assure us that things had gone well.  We spent the next 2+ weeks recovering, and our lives have never been the same. ONE YEAR AGO TODAY God blessed us abundantly, held us close, and guided a surgeon and his team as they saved Koal’s life.

(More pics of the birthday party to come soon!)

 Praise be to the LORD, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting. Amen and Amen.

Psalm 41:13

Happy birthday, Koal!!!!!

Sweet Koal,

It is so hard to fathom that you are ONE now! The past year has been a roller coaster ride of emotions, filled with great challenges and extreme joy.  We were never sure if we’d see your first birthday, so we celebrate today with overwhelmingly blessed and thankful hearts! Speaking of hearts…yours is perfect, even “broken.” God has done amazing things because of your sweet, tiny heart, and He will continue to grow it and fill it with His Spirit as your grow. You are such a gift, such a precious little man, and we love you more than we could ever explain.  We thank God daily for each hour that he blesses us with the privilege of being your parents, and we pray that the hours turn into days, years and decades. You have changed us, and the world around you, in your short life already, and we know God’s hand is on you, using you for His glory always. Your sweet smile lights up the room, and your laugh is absolutely adorable. Adry would play peek-a-boo with you all day long if we let her, and Kade is ALWAYS trying to make you laugh at him (and you always do!). They love you so very much! We look forward to your second year of life and are excited to see what God has in store.

We love you, Koalton!

Nearly a YEAR

On the eve of Koal’s first birthday, I looked back at what I had written a year ago as we waited in anticipation of Koal’s arrival.

‘Thank you all for your continued prayers through this.  Tomorrow is a bittersweet day…so excited to meet our new son…so overwhelmed with emotion and with how our lives will change – in both wonderful and difficult ways. We will rest in God’s presence and cling to Him as we journey through the next few days, weeks and months.’

And what a year it has been!! We are SO THANKFUL for our little man and for all the blessings and joy he brings us. We did not know if we’d see this day to celebrate with him, so describing it as ‘special’ hardly seems appropriate.  We can’t begin to thank our family and friends enough for all they’ve done for us in the past 12 months. We’ve been loved, supported, cared for, encouraged, prayed for and blessed in SO many ways, by SO many people, and we are SO very grateful.

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

 Romans 15:13

…and He HAS! We've prayed this so many times over the past year, and we want nothing more than God to be glorified though Koal's life and our journey through this time. We are filled with hope from the Holy Spirit daily and we know God is with us always.